Breaking
by Noellie723
Summary: Enjolras has returned to his home in Tahiti when finds out that a local marine life conservation group is on the brink of bankruptcy. He decides to help by entering a surf competition. The only problem is he can't surf on a shortboard for shit. Maybe with the help of Éponine Thénardier, one of the best surfers in French Polynesia, he might be able to win the competition.
1. Chapter 1

Éponine sat down at the bar in the Cafe Musain while Musichetta made her usual. The small juice bar was normally empty, save a few locals, which is what made it an ideal hang out for Les Amis. There were hardly any tourist and there was a hidden beach nearby, which they called Avae Bay*, that had great waves. Les Amis had a mix of surfing styles and Avae Bay was perfect for all of them.

Combeferre, Jehan, Bossuet, Cosette, Marius, and Joly were longboarders. They liked the smooth, calmness of riding bigger boards. There was a pleasant ease to it that was very relaxing. Bahorel, Courfeyrac, Feuilly, Grantaire, and Musichetta were the shortboarders of the group. They enjoyed the fast paced maneuvers that came with shortboarding.

Éponine, however, stopped surfing a year and a half ago. She was one of the best surfers in all of French Polynesia, long and short, but a mortal accident stripped her of that title. With the help of her friends she got back to swimming in the bay but she wouldn't dare surf anytime soon. Musichetta handed the Éponine her mango pineapple smoothie when Courfeyrac walked in.

"Hello ladies," the young charmer smiled.

"My, Musichetta, you're looking lovely today,"

"I've already got two boyfriends. I don't need another," she said swatting him away. "And flattery will get you no where,"

"Aw, please Chetta? The swells are supposed to be amazing today,"

"I'm not doing it. But bring him straight to the bay afterwards,"

"Why what's happening?" Éponine asked.

"Enjolras is coming home and Courf doesn't want to go to the airport to pick him up," Musichetta explained before disappearing into the back to find supplies.

"The waves are breaking at 7 feet! You expect me to miss out on 7 feet waves?!"

"Oh calm down. There'll be seven footers another day," Éponine nonchalantly sipped her smoothie.

"Then you can go pick him up, Ép,"

"Can't. I've never met the guy,"

"You haven't?"

"Remember? I met you guys right after Enjolras left for that trip thing. What was it called?"

"His awareness trip,"

"Raising awareness for marine life conservation for 2 and a half years?"

"He stopped in Bora Bora 6 months in. His mom got really sick, but she's a lot better now and she's been urging him to come back here and get on with his life,"

"He sounds like he tends to care a lot about people. Are you sure this is the same marble man you've told me about?"

Courf laughed. "Just wait until you meet him,"

Éponine nodded. "If that's a challenge, then I'll go with you to the airport,"

"Well at least this way I won't be the only one missing out on seven footers," Courfeyrac sighed as he headed towards the parking lot.

"Oh come on, now. There'll be other waves!" Éponine yelled as she ran to catch up with him.

* * *

The airport was flooded with blond hair and blue eyed tourists, which made it hard for Éponine to decipher which one was the fierce leader she heard so much about. She eventually gave up and let Courfeyrac scan the crowd. It took awhile but the two friends eventually spotted each other. Enjolras looked a lot different then Éponine imagined. All Courfeyrac said was that he was blond with blue eyes and a strong jaw. What they didn't mention was that he had thick blond curls with eyes blue like the ocean and a jaw so sharp it should be illegal. He also to had a good eight inches over Éponine's 5'4" frame.

"Enjolras!" Courfeyrac greeted. "How've you been?"

"I'm doing well. My moms gotten better and my sister is moving in with her just to make sure she's okay. And how've you been?"

"Great, except the fact that there are seven footers at Avae Bay right now,"

"Oh drop it already, Courf," Éponine cut in.

Enjolras blinked. "Hello. You must be Éponine. Courf has mentioned you a few times,"

"Yeah, he's said a few things about you also. It's nice to meet you,"

All three of them awkwardly stood there for a few seconds. Éponine and Enjolras had every right to be silent but Courfeyrac was so shocked at Éponine's uncharacteristic manners that he didn't know if it was worth it to get punched for cracking a joke at her. He decided against it and presumed it was just because she didn't know Enjolras well enough to act normally.

Courfeyrac cleared his throat. "We should probably get going. Everyone can't wait to see you,"

"Yeah that'd be a good idea," Enjolras said.

The trio walked to the car while Éponine and Enjolras argued over who would sit in back. Their argument ended when Courfeyrac tossed the keys to Éponine and told Enjolras to sit in front.

"So, you're from Bora Bora?" Éponine asked as she drove out of the parking lot.

"Yeah. I'm one-eighth Tahitian on my mothers side. The rest of me is french," Enjolras replied.

"Then how'd you find yourself on Tahiti Nui? You're almost 200 miles away from your hometown,"

"I went Université de la Polynésie Française a few years ago and I just sort of stayed here,"

"I can't blame you,"

"The swells here are pretty great,"

"Yeah. Do you surf?"

"I've been long boarding since I was boy. I'm not the best, but it's definitely fun. Are you from Tahiti-Nui?"

"I actually grew up in Tahiti-Iti in Teahupo'o. But when I was about 18 I moved here in Paea with my younger siblings,"

"You're the oldest?"

"Of five, yes. But I just live with two of my siblings. The other two still live with my parents. What about you, do you have any siblings?"

"Just the one. Her names Vaitea and she's about 4 years older than me,"

"That's a pretty name. I knew a Vaitea when I was growing up. She was about twenty one when I was five years old. She was a great surfer,"

"Do you surf? I mean growing up in one of the best surfing spots in the world you must have at least once,"

Éponine subconsciously slid her left hand towards the side of the steering wheel so Enjolras couldn't see her scar. "Not anymore,"

"Why not?"

"Didn't anyone teach you not to pry?" she snapped.

"Sorry," Enjolras dropped the subject and stared out the window.

Éponine continued to drive in silence while the boys talked about Enjolras' trip. Something about fish and acid and ocean. Éponine was too busy trying to get around afternoon traffic and crazy tourists to listen to their conversation. By the time they got to the bay, it was almost sunset. Everyone rushed out of the water and ran to greet their friend with salt wet hugs. Soon, Enjolras was retelling the stories he told Courfeyrac in the car. Something about fish and acid and ocean. Éponine was once again occupied with her thoughts. She watched quietly as the sun dipped into the ocean.

It was kind to her once, the ocean. It let her feel like she was queen of the world when she caught a good wave. She owned almost every single wave she rode. The water seemed to obey her. Éponine had the brightest surfing career and was so close to becoming a pro-surfer, until the day of her accident. Everything seemed normal that day, bright sun and great swells. But the swells grew more and more until Éponine was pushed under. Waves came down on her like bricks and suddenly-

"Éponine," Jehan said, waking her from her terrifying daydream. "We were going to go find a place to eat dinner to celebrate Enjolras' return home,"

"We all eat out every single night," Bahorel said to his boyfriend. "If we keep doing this, I'll end up broke,"

"Same," Bossuet and Grantaire sighed simultaneously.

"Well if you guys don't want to eat out, I can make dinner," Éponine said. Everyone looked up with bright eyes.

It wasn't a secret that she was a great cook. In fact there was a month where Les Amis would randomly bring groceries to her house so she could make them dinner. This eventually stopped because Éponine had grown tired of cooking every single meal for 14 people.

"Really?" Feuilly asked.

"Yeah, I mean I haven't really cooked for Gav and Zelma in awhile and it's a special occasion anyways,"

"Wait, you haven't been feeding for your siblings?" Combeferre asked with shock.

"I mean Gav's been out stealing mangos and bargaining for cheaper food from food trucks and Zelma has a job and stays out with her boyfriend. She is 21 now, after all,"

"Well, it's settled then. Dinner at Ép's," Musichetta smiled.

* * *

Now they aren't too sure how it started, but Éponine eventually threw manners out the window and she and Enjolras had a full on screaming match in the beginning of dinner while Les Amis sat quietly and waited for things to calm back down. Ok, maybe they did know how it started but, hell, neither of them gave up without a proper fight.

Everyone waited in Éponine's small house while she prepared a special dinner. No one knew what she was making but they were all excited for it. After about twenty minutes, she had asked Jehan to get enough plates and utensils for everyone while she finished up. Jehan was like another younger brother and she cared for him dearly.

"Ok everyone," Éponine announced from the kitchen. "Dinners ready,"

Les Amis walked in the kitchen, mouths watering at the smell of spices and coconut milk. Éponine's famous e'ia ota* was waiting on the kitchen table mixed in with cubes of cucumber, tomato, lime juice, and coconut milk as well as other secret ingredients. Les Amis stood in a line at her small kitchen table and piled food onto their plates with maru'uru'u* to their friend and headed back to the living room. Everyone had food on their plate except Enjolras who was leaning up against the cabinets.

"If you don't eat raw fish, I can throw it on the frying pan real quick, if you'd like," Éponine said when she noticed his empty plate.

"I don't eat fish at all," Enjolras replied flatly.

"Oh sorry, I forgot to ask if you were allergic to anything,"

"It's not that I'm allergic, it's that I try not to eat the thing I'm trying to protect. It's people like you who are putting fish in danger,"

"Excuse me? It sounded like you were disrespecting me and my cooking, Blondie. Did I not open my home to all twelve of you for your sake? Did I not spend money on expensive ingredients? Did I not put my time and effort into this? And, hell, this was very expensive,"

"Look. All I'm saying is that you aren't helping the cause,"

"You know who isn't helping the cause? All those people out there leaving trash on the beach and all those companies out there who are dumping their waste in the ocean. So if you think the enemy is in here, then you need to reevaluate your goals,"

"My goal is to save marine life and that means not eating the fish. Do you know how much the fish population has dropped and how much the acidity of the ocean has risen?"

"You've been telling everyone all day about the fish and acid and ocean! How could I not hear you? And besides, the islanders have been eating for centuries and the fish have been fine. It's those tourists that have been polluting the ocean with their trash. Now if you don't agree that that's a contributing factor to marine life danger, than you better get some teaching before you do the preaching,"

An ooh-ing noise could be heard from a few of the guys as Enjolras shut up.

Éponine exhaled and leaned back on the fridge across from the blushing young man. "So, since you aren't going to eat fish, I can make you something else for dinner. How does pineapple chicken sound?"

"That sounds nice," Enjolras said in an almost mumble. "Maru'uru'u,"

"No problem, Blondie. You can wait in the living room with the rest of Les Amis. I'll be done in a few minutes," Enjolras walked away with confusion.

If Éponine had just left the argument when she made her point, he would've just left her alone from that point onward. But she had offered to still do something nice for him which left him baffled. Was he supposed to stay mad at her for arguing with him or apologize and continue trying to be friends with her. All he knew was that this girl would be a challenge in the future.

**A/N: didn't really get into surfing competition yet, but I'll get there next chapter :] **

***Avae(ah-vah-eh): Tahitian word for moon **

***e'ia ota(eh-ee-yah oh-tah): Tahitian dish similar to ceviche **

***maru'uru'u(mah-roo-roo): Tahitian word for thanks**


	2. Chapter 2

After the little dinner fiasco(which Éponine was, surprisingly, quick to forgive), Enjolras spent the next few days settling back into the apartment he shared with Combeferre. He then went straight to his marine conservation work by making informative flyers and handing them out in the city. That's when he ran into Michael Purotu, another marine conservationist whom he met at the university.

"Purotu?" Enjolras asked, getting the young man's attention.

"Enjolras! How've you been," Purotu greeted with a hug. "I heard you just got back from Bora Bora,"

"Yeah my mom is a lot better. Les Amis and I still have our small awareness group,"

"Well this is awesome, what you guys are doing," Purotu said gesturing to the flyers. "We could sure use more awareness at the Marine Conservation Organization of Tahiti,"

"I agree. If people don't understand that we are hurting the life in the ocean, our entire ecosystem will be off balance,"

"And, sadly, if the organization doesn't find a way to pay off some debts, we'll have to shut down,"

"What sort of debts?"

"Our founder took out some loans to fund research but after the economy started dropping, we're struggling to pay them off,"

"How much do you need?"

"1.3 million in 6 months,"

"Well, if I can, I'll try to find ways to help,"

"Maru'uru'u Enjolras. It would be much appreciated," And with that the two parted ways.

Enjolras decided that if he didn't help the organization, that would be a large amount of conservation lost as well as the jobs of many. So he called Les Amis together to brain storm.

All the guys crammed into the Musain while Musichetta made them all their usuals. Enjolras immediately started the meeting by explaining the situation.

"We could fundraise," Combeferre suggested.

"What would we sell? Awareness flyers?" Grantaire joked.

"We could sell coupons for the Musain,"

"But the Musain might get popular and we wouldn't have a proper meeting place,"

"Well, there's 9 of us here, 13 if you add Marius, Cosette, Musichetta and Éponine, if we all earn 100,000 in six months, we'll be fine," Jehan said.

"Yeah but Enjolras doesn't have a job and there's a slim chance that the Musain will make that much in that amount of time," Bossuet said.

"We'll just have to work a little more," Joly replied.

"I can't have you guys work hard while I just sit back," Enjolras protested.

"There has to be another way for me to earn money,"

"Just ask Éponine," Courfeyrac sighed, finally contributing.

"What for?" Enjolras asked.

"She finds ways to make money easily,"

Their leader raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, how do you think she took care of Azelma and Gavroche? With the salary she gets working as a waitress at those fake luau's, she could only support herself,"

"Where is Éponine? I might as well ask her,"

"If you hurry, you might be able to catch her down at the bay," Jehan replied.

"Okay, then. $100,000 from all of us in 6 months. Meeting adjourned,"

Enjolras hurried out of the Musain and drove down to Avae Bay. It was almost sunset when he spotted Éponine trying to give Marius tips on surfing tricks.

"Hello Éponine, Marius," Enjolras greeted.

"How's it going, Blondie?" Éponine replied.

"I just came to ask you about how you earn money quickly,"

"What?"

"We're trying to help a marine conservation organization financially but I currently don't have a job. Courfeyrac told me that you had ways of getting money,"

"Oh. Well, I don't do this anymore but I used to enter in surf competitions. Not so much for the money but for the joy of it. The money just helped me take care of my siblings,"

"Are there any upcoming competitions?"

"In 4 months, there'll be a competition in Teahupo'o with a prize purse of $100,000,"

"That's perfect,"

"How well can you surf?"

"I'm pretty decent with a longboard,"

Éponine broke out in laughter. "It's a shortboard competition, you know. And besides, longboards weren't meant for pitching waves over 4 feet,"

"Then are there any longboard competitions?"

"Not with a prize purse big enough to help you,"

"Then can you help me learn how to shortboard?"

"Ask Courfeyrac. He's probably the only other person in the group who has competed and is your best chance of getting help. I'm only good for giving tips," Éponine spoke before she turned to Marius. "Now, you should practice hanging 5 before you try hanging 10,"

"Ok, maru'uru'u," Enjolras muttered.

He drove back home while Éponine and Marius headed back into the water. She swam by the side of his board as he paddled out. She yelled out tips but Marius couldn't grasp what she wanted him to do and kept falling off his board. He was a visual learner but Éponine wasn't mentally prepared to get back on her board again.

She wanted to, she really did. And she tried after her body was physically healthy, but when she wiped out, all that was replaying in her mind was her accident. She freaked out and nearly drowned. It took awhile before she actually got used to swimming in the bay.

Éponine eventually got frustrated at trying to explain to Marius and called it a day. She hoped Courfeyrac would have more luck with Enjolras.

* * *

"Okay," Courfeyrac smiled as Enjolras came over. "Let's get started on shortboarding,"

"I'm ready," Enjolras replied.

"So, first of all, as soon as you pop off, your stance needs to be steady. Shortboarding is a lot more faster. Other than that, I think you can start now, seeing how you've already got the surfing basics,"

Enjolras nodded and picked up the shortboard before paddling out. It was a beautiful new morning and the waves were pretty frequent, so he would get a lot of practice time. It wasn't long before a prime swell was rising. The golden young man popped off his board and within the first five seconds, he was tumbling into the water. This was the case for the next ten tries.

Éponine pulled up and got out of her jeep. She walked over to Courfeyrac to see what he was staring at.

"Just give it a second," he replied, waiting for Enjolras' eventual resurface. "And the Apollo lives!"

"What's he even doing?"

"Surfing. Well, at least trying to,"

"How long has he been at this?"

"A good 30 minutes,"

"Has he ridden any good ones?"

"The poor kid can barely get passed the lip before wiping out," Courfeyrac chuckled.

"Aren't you worried he might drown?" Éponine inquired with a hint of fear.

"Enjolras is a fucking mermaid. He's fine,"

Éponine observed as the waves pushed Enjolras and his board all the way to shore. He sputtered a bit before heading back to his instructor.

"Any tips on staying balanced?" Enjolras requested. Éponine couldn't help but stare. God bless wet swimming trunks.

"Well, you just sort of stay balanced," Courf replied.

"Stay balanced?"

"Yeah just stay balanced," The soaked man clenched his jaw, handed Courfeyrac his board and walked back to his car. He was obviously frustrated with the advice, or lack of, that his instructor was giving.

Éponine giggled.

"What's up with you?"

"'Just stay balanced,'" she mimicked, almost falling into the sand from laughing so hard.

"Shut the fuck up," he grinned. "You try teaching him how to surf,"

"Yeah, when hell freezes over,"

"But seriously, try helping him. He needs to make $100,000. And maybe teaching him will get you back to surfing. You could enter in the female division to get your $100,000. I'm pretty sure you've still got it,"

"Once again, when hell freezes over,"

"Please, Ép," Courfeyrac pleaded and took her hand and got on his knees.

"No. If I were to train anyone, which I'm not, then I'm going to put them through shit first which is something Blondie won't want to do,"

"I'll talk to him," and that's exactly what he did.

* * *

So Éponine wasn't too surprised when Enjolras showed up on her doorstep that afternoon.

"Hey Blondie. Can I help you with anything?" Éponine asked, peeping her head out from behind her front door.

"Can you teach me how to surf?" he requested.

She fought back a laugh. "From what I saw out there, I'm pretty sure marble doesn't float too well,"

"Seriously, Éponine. Teach me how to ride a shortboard,"

"You can barely longboard,"

"Please. I only have four months and I need your help,"

"Why me?"

"You are the best surfer in French Polynesia,"

"I _was_ one the best. Not anymore," she mumbled.

"Courf showed me videos of your surf competitions and you surf like nobody else. Your style and precision is exactly what I need to learn so please, will you help me?"

Éponine sighed. "Ok fine. I'll teach you,"

"Really?"

"Under my conditions. You won't question my methods. And my methods are straight from hell, might I warn you,"

"I can handle it,"

"Okay then. We start tomorrow at 5:00 am at the bay. Bring your koa wood longboard,"

"Thank you so much,"

"No problem, Blondie,"

* * *

The air was frigid and the sun was yet to rise. Éponine was sitting in a folding chair in a large sweatshirt when Enjolras came over with his board over his head.

"Good morning," he greeted. It was obvious he was a morning person.

Éponine, on the other hand, was trying to hide her grogginess. "Ia Orana*. Let's get started. One key component of surfing is endurance. You're gonna be up against guys who have been shortboarding for their entire lives. You've only got four months. They're going to be used to paddling out there and staying out there so you need to be able to keep up. I want you to squat down and hold your board over your head. If you ease up too much on your stance or put your board on your head, you're giving me 50 push ups,"

"How long do I need to hold for?"

"Until I say so," Enjolras did as he was told and held the board over his head. That was 50 pounds he was holding. It wasn't long until he was in the sand doing push ups.

"Your goal should be four minutes," Éponine said. "If you can't, then you don't have enough endurance,"

He went back to his squatting position. His thighs and arms were on fire and he couldn't help but shake. But he kept reminding himself about his cause and how badly he needed to win. He made it to 1 minute and a half before having to put the board down. Enjolras did his push ups and repeated.

Éponine had to admit, he was pretty persistent. After he did his push ups, he would go straight back into his squats. He didn't complain at all and look pretty determined to reach his goal. But since it was only his first day, he could barely get past a minute.

At 5:30 she let him take a break and at 7:00 they moved on to something else. She brought him to the pavement and went to get something out of her jeep. It was an inflatable exercise ball.

"Balance on it," Éponine ordered.

"On that?" Enjolras asked.

"Yeah. I thought about putting a plank on a foam roller and have you balance on that, but that would be too easy because you already longboard. So balance on this,"

"I don't think I can,"

"Yes you can. Steph Gilmore does it all the time,"

"If I was Steph Gilmore, I wouldn't have to bother you into training me,"

"Because this is your very first time, I'll help you. Give me your hand,"

Enjolras wrapped his hand around hers. He held on tightly as he stood up. Her brown eyes met his blue and she suppressed a smile.

"You kind of have to let go," she said in almost a whisper. "because I won't be able to hold your hand like this when you're surfing,"

"Right," he mumbled, fighting the urge to blush. Wait, why was he blushing. He shouldn't be blushing. This was just Éponine. She probably didn't like him. She probably thought he was an uppity snob who insulted her cooking.

Enjolras almost fell off the ball from being too distracted. He pushed these thoughts from his mind and went back to focusing. He was pretty very unsteady but Éponine knew that he would be able to do it eventually. For some reason, she had faith in him.

***Ia Orana(yoh-rah-nah): Tahitian word for hello.**


	3. Chapter 3

The first month of training was over and Enjolras could successfully balance on the exercise ball on his own and was only a minute shy of reaching his endurance goal. Éponine had let him take a break that Saturday morning and he slept in til noon. When he woke up, he headed straight to the Cafe Musain to meet everyone for lunch. They all immediately noticed how strange he was walking.

"Are you okay?" Combeferre asked.

"I'm just a little sore," Enjolras replied, trying to keep in the groans as he sat down.

"A little? You could barely walk!" Courfeyrac laughed. "Whatever 'Ponine is doing, she's doing it right,"

Almost everyone turned their heads at the girl with raised eyebrows.

"What? I'm just training him for a surf competition," Éponine informed before sipping her drink.

"Yeah, right," Grantaire snorted.

Éponine kicked him under the table and took another sip, trying to feign innocence.

"Jesus, don't you have work or something?" he asked, rubbing his shin.

"Oops, you're right. Thanks for reminding me. I've gotta head out now,"

She pecked everyone on the head before she hopped into her jeep and drove off.

"So, Enjolras," Courfeyrac elbowed him. "has Éponine tried surfing yet?"

"No. She usually sits in her folding chair and tells me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. Why do you ask?"

"I just want to know if she's shown any interest in competing in the female division. It's been awhile since her accident. I have no idea how she hasn't gone insane without surfing,"

"Yeah. Courf can barely go a week without freaking out. Less if he knows the swells are good," Musichetta laughed.

"What actually happened to her?" Enjolras asked.

No one in the room immediately responded.

"What? Is her accident tapu* or something?"

"It's just that no one of knows exactly _how_ it happened," Combeferre finally explained.

"How do you not know?"

"It was around May and the Thénardier kids went back to Teahupo'o to visit their cousins and surf some awesome swells. About a few days in to their trip, Gav called us and told us that he and Azelma were with Ép at the hospital. She had lost 35% of her blood and had a hole in her left hand. She was moved to the local hospital and that next week, she was in and out of conscious, so she couldn't tell us anything. When she did wake up, all she did was cry and apologize to a 'Monty.' Azelma told us that 'Monty' was short for 'Montparnasse,' who was a family friend that was with her the day of her accident. Turns out that he was paralyzed from the neck down that same day. Every time we asked about what happened, she would break down. So we eventually stopped asking,"

"And that's it?"

"I'm afraid so,"

"And you guys haven't tried helping her overcome these fears?"

Les Amis looked down and continued their lunch in silence.

* * *

Monday rolled around and Éponine continued to work Enjolras. The day before, he completed his endurance goal and maintained his balance on the exercise ball while Éponine threw tiny pebbles at him, so she decided that they could move on.

"I know you must be wondering why I let you sleep in another two hours," she said. "It's because we'll need sunlight to see underwater,"

"Are you going to teach me to surf?" Enjolras asked.

"Not yet. Waves at Teahupo'o can get up to 20 feet. You're lucky the competition is in January and not in the middle of the winter months*. The waves will be around seven feet during that time. But still, the waves can get nasty and you could be underwater for awhile. So we'll be working on your lung strength. See those cliffs over there? I want you to climb up there and find a rock that's heavy for you but not too heavy and bring it back here,"

Enjolras did as he was told and Éponine followed, going to find a rock for her own. When they returned to the sand, she explained that they were going to run underwater with the rocks and he could come up for air when he wanted but he should strive for 5 minutes. They started running and Enjolras made it a few yards before dropping the rock and swimming up. Éponine came up after him.

"That was only thirty seconds," Éponine informed.

"Sorry,"

"It's okay. The maximum you could go without training is two minutes. Then you'd definitely pass out. What I'm saying is, your mind is telling you to come up for air but you can go for at least another thirty seconds. Push yourself,"

Enjolras took Éponine's advice into account and the two got back to training. After awhile of ascending and descending in thirty second intervals, Éponine stopped resurfacing with her trainee. Suddenly, she realized that he hadn't swam back down for a long time. Enjolras was passed out and, luckily, floating face up.

Éponine dropped her rock, wrapped her arm around his limp body, and swam back to shore. She pressed an ear to his chest. Thank god he was breathing. She didn't want to give him mouth to mouth. Not that it wouldn't be unpleasant. It's just, he was Enjolras and he probably thought of her as the girl who justified the murder of fish.

The golden young man began sputtering as he woke up.

"Are you okay?" Éponine immediately asked, cupping the sides of his head and checking for signs of injury.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Enjolras replied, sitting up.

"What happened to you?"

"You said to push myself,"

She jabbed him in the arm. "I didn't say push yourself until you fucking _passed out_! I almost had a damn heart attack,"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,"

"It's fine. Just be careful next time,"

"Will do," he promised before walking back into the water.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Going back to training,"

"Your stubbornness will be the death of you. You could've died just now!"

"My stubbornness will be the thing that keeps me going," he reassured her with a rare smile.

She shook her head with a small grin before following him into the water.

* * *

Those next couple of days, when everyone met up at Cafe Musain, Enjolras would sit there holding his breath. They would all freak out the first few times when they heard his body fall out of his chair but they eventually got used to it and Éponine would quickly check his watch to see how for he had gotten. But he couldn't get past a minute and a half. So she tried thinking of ways to help him.

The next morning, Éponine told Enjolras to bring back his koa wood longboard.

"I thought I completed my endurance training," he frowned, getting into the squatting position.

"I'm helping you strengthen your lungs. Breathe long, deep breaths for the next four minutes. This will widen your lungs," Éponine informed.

She sat and watched as he he followed her instructions. After the four minutes were up, they went back to underwater rock running. They alternated this for awhile until Enjolras got a call from Bossuet.

"Hey Enj," the older man greeted with pain. "I kind of dropped a knife and my toe won't stop bleeding. I need a ride to the hospital and everyone is at work. Do you think you could drive me?"

"Yeah, I'll be over there in a few minutes," Enjolras replied before hanging up.

"What's wrong?" Éponine asked.

"I need to take Bossuet to the hospital,"

"Do you need me to go with you?"

"There won't be enough room for all of us and the longboard. Actually, could you take it back to my place? Ask one of my neighbors to buzz you in and there are spare keys under the welcome mat,"

"Okay, will do,"

"Maru'uru'u plenty, 'Ponine," Enjolras sped away while Éponine went to collect everything.

She held the longboard in her hands. She admired how he kept it in such great condition. It was hard finding such a nice koa wood longboard. And the waves were at a perfect height for longboarding.

No, she couldn't. Not yet. Well, maybe. No one was around to make her feel pressured. And it had been far too long since she last felt the adrenaline of coasting such powerful waves. One wave wouldn't be that bad. Or would it? Would she have another panic attack? It would probably be best if she just did what Enjolras asked her to do and dropped the board back off at his place. And besides, she didn't have any surfboard wax. But the waves kept calling out to her. No. She wasn't going to. Not yet.

Éponine sighed before she loaded the board onto her jeep and drove away.

**A/N: thanks so much for reading and please review :] I might be going on a temporary hiatus because of school starting up again, but I will try to post as often as I can**

***tapu(tah-poo): tahitian word for taboo; forbidden to discuss **

***Tahiti is below the equator so the seasons are reversed from the northern hemisphere but it's still warm all year**


	4. Chapter 4

Enjolras had gotten Bossuet to urgent care and back before 8:00 pm which was a new record for any of the Amis, for Bossuet would usually need to stay overnight at the hospital. Enjolras flicked on the light switch next to the front door to find that it wasn't working. So he stumbled through the dark until he found his way to the main light switch. When the room was illuminated, he realized that the lamp by the front door was replaced with a note that read:

_Sort of, accidentally, broke your lamp with the longboard. I'll buy a new one for you, I swear!_

_Love always, Ponine_

_P.S. Really sorry!_

_P.P.S. I mean a new lamp, not longboard. Those are expensive._

_P.P.P.S. Training tomorrow at noon._

Enjolras smiled at the piece of paper. Her words seemed rushed and frantic but her handwriting was delicate and looked somewhat like cursive. There was a fluid essence of her penmanship that reminded him of the ocean. Of course it would. He had only known her for almost two months but he already associated her with the warm waters of Avae Bay.

* * *

Éponine and Cosette sat in the Musain the next day while Musichetta had them try weird fruit smoothies.

"So, how's Bossuet?" Éponine asked while Cosette ran to spit out the smoothie in the nearest potted plant.

"He's fine. I told him not to walk around too much and to leave the cooking to me and Joly. We should just buy him a hazmat suit if he keeps this up," Musichetta said with a smile warmer than the Tahitian sun.

Cosette came back to her seat as Musichetta poured them her new mango and spinach mixture. The former almost turned green at the sight of the muddy brown concoction which sent Éponine into a laughing fit.

"Come on! You've ran from the police slower than you've turned green," Éponine jested.

"I can't," Cosette frowned. "It looks so gross,"

"You cleaned up those big ass cuts Marius got when he fell on the reef and you're telling me that a smoothie looks gross,"

"It looks like dirt in a cup! No offense Chetta,"

"Non taken," she dismissed, clearly enjoying Cosette's squeamishness.

"If you're not gonna drink it, I will," Éponine announced before downing the cup.

Cosette scrunched her nose. "You're disgusting,"

Just then, the Center, the Chief, and the Guide walked in while Éponine laughed.

"Whoa, what's up with Ponine?" Courf asked.

"Cosette won't drink my new smoothies," Musichetta explained.

"What's in them?" Combeferre inquired as he examined the cup.

"Mango and spinach,"

"Ugh," they all replied, save Éponine who was still trying to stop from laughing at the look on Cosette's face.

When she finally recovered, she turned to Enjolras and asked, "Did you get my note?"

"Yes. Combeferre and I found it very amusing,"

"Having you also been practicing holding your breath?"

"Yes, I did," he replied. "I had a lot of time waiting in urgent care for Bossuet,"

"Please don't tell me you passed out in the hospital,"

Enjolras smiled a little. "No, I was fine,"

"Good. We can go back to stretching your lungs,"

"Actually, I was just wondering when we would start surfing. We've only got two months and, like you said, my competitors have got years on me and I still need to learn the basics as well as some solid tricks,"

"When you can hold your breath for over four minutes then we can start surfing,"

"Fine," Enjolras said before sucking in his breath.

"Wait what are you doing?"

Enjolras still held his breath.

"I don't know if you're trying to prove that you can hold your breath or if you're throwing a childish tantrum by holding your breath until I say you can start surfing,"

Enjolras held up his index finger.

"Okay, one. I'm guessing that means the first option,"

The golden man nodded.

"Then you've got another 3 and a half minutes till I you've proven yourself," Éponine informed. Everyone silently waited.

There were only forty five seconds left when Enjolras started shaking and biting his lip. Thirty seconds left when he passed out. Éponine stooped down and woke him up.

"Come on. We're going to go stretch your lungs," Éponine smirked as she helped him up. And soon, Enjolras was back to holding a board over his head.

* * *

They sat on the sandy beach as they took a break from underwater rock running. The pair looked out to the ocean, trying to regain their breath.

"Éponine," Enjolras started. "I hope you don't mind me asking but why don't you surf anymore?"

"I don't like talking about it," Éponine mumbled.

"But don't you want to surf again?"

"I said I don't like talking about it!" this time she replied a lot louder.

"Sorry," Enjolras muttered. "I'll stop asking you,"

Éponine sighed. "It's okay,"

The two sat in silence. He was right, she did want to surf, but she just didn't know where to start.

"We should probably just go back to training," Éponine finally said.

And so Enjolras continued to follow her underwater. They circled around a giant rock for awhile. Enjolras would rather drown than come up for air before Éponine. She felt the same way. She stopped circling the rock and ran deeper underwater backwards. Her trainee followed, keeping his eyes on hers. Éponine grinned when Enjolras finally swam up for air and came up shortly after.

"How long was that?" the golden man gasped.

Éponine checked her watch. "4 minutes and 16 seconds,"

"Does that mean I can start surfing?"

"Yeah. You can start tomorrow,"

The two raced to shore and dried off. They said their goodbyes and Enjolras headed home while Éponine went to work.

She texted Chetta and Cosette, telling them to eat dinner at her work because she was terribly bored and wanted to change things up a bit. They replied saying that the rest of the Amis were coming too. It was a bad habit but they all enjoyed going to her work to make fun of tourists. Either way, she was sure that the night wouldn't be a bore.

Éponine walked in the back of the restaurant and headed to the dressing rooms to change into her uniform. When she entered, two of the dancers were getting ready for the 6 pm show with nervous expressions.

"Éponine!" one of the girls exclaimed. "We need you to dance tonight,"

"Why me?"

"Three other dancers got food poisoning last night and can't make it,"

"Don't you usually have back ups?"

"One of the three was our only available back up. You're the only other waitress who knows all the routines,"

"Can't you just shift the lines?"

"There aren't enough of us to fill the entire stage. Wear Moana's costumes, you'll fit them,"

Éponine couldn't argue with them, they were higher up on the pecking order so to speak. So she bit her lip and shakily put on her first costume. For someone who hadn't done tahitian dance for over three years, she was pretty decent. And she had nothing to be shy about physically. The thing that was worrying her was that she invited Les Amis, tonight of all nights. She thought of telling them not to come but they texted her to let her know that they were already sitting in the city traffic and would be there in 15 minutes. It was too late now.

Les Amis asked to be seated in the middle of the restaurant, not directly in front of the stage but with a semi-decent few. They knew that the middle was Éponine's section, so they were surprised when a different waitress came out to take their order.

"Excuse me, but is Éponine Thénardier here?" Courfeyrac asked.

"She's one of the dancers tonight," the waitress replied.

"Okay thanks,"

After she left, everyone bursted out in laughter.

"Shit, is Éponine doing this on purpose or what?" Bahorel boomed with laughter.

Enjolras sat there awkwardly. "Why is this amusing to you all?"

Everyone started laughing harder.

"If it's not a family or friend get together, Ponine hates dancing," Cosette explained.

"Really?"

"Well, she really loves dancing. She just doesn't want to be objectified by tourists. Which is ironic because she works in a place where a majority of the clientele are tourists,"

Enjolras nodded. He understood that it was hard getting a job that didn't have to do with tourism.

The drummers began to play and the dancer walked onto the stage in long raffia skirts and shell bras. Éponine stood in the middle with a bright smile. She began to dance and Les Amis started cheering much louder than everyone else in the room, save Enjolras who merely applauded.

The show came to a point where the dancers pulled people up from the audience and taught them to dance, but since they were down two people, they decided to do it slightly differently. The two other dancers would bring up one guy and one girl each while Éponine would do a solo dance with a man of her choice.

She immediately headed to the Amis' table. They all refused and pointed to Enjolras, since it was his first time to her work and everyone else had already done audience participation once or twice. Courfeyrac and Bahorel helped Éponine get him out of his chair.

They stood towards the back of the stage while they waited for Éponine's solo.

"Sorry for bringing you up here. Les Amis insisted," Éponine whispered, still keeping her bright smile.

"It's fine," Enjolras murmured.

"I'm actually kind of glad that you're dancing with me,"

"Really?" Enjolras fought the urge to blush.

"Yeah, some tourists tend to oversexualize the culture and it gets weird sometimes,"

"Oh, right,"

It was time for their solo and Éponine took Enjolras' hands and told him to follow her movements. She moved her hips in a slow circle and he tried following. She was fluid and graceful. He was choppy and awkward, but that made her smile even more. The drumbeats started speeding up and soon she was dancing circles around him, literally.

The show ended after the solos and Éponine was back to waitressing.

"Damn, Ponine," Courfeyrac whistled. "I didn't know you could dance like that,"

"Shut up," she laughed. "But can we talk about Enjolras for a moment,"

"Who knew marble could move!" Combeferre laughed.

"I'm impressed. And maybe tomorrow, you'll surf as good as you dance," she smiled before putting Courfeyrac's beer on her tray. "And don't drink too much, I need you to help me teach Enjolras tomorrow morning,"

"Wait, at least let me finish it," he called after her as she walked towards the kitchen.

"You're going to teach me how to surf?" Enjolras inquired.

"I guess so. Hopefully I won't be so shitty this time," Courf laughed.

Éponine returned an the rest of the night was filled with joking. Even Enjolras was redden with laughter, which was rare to see, so Éponine would be sure to savor every moment of it.

**A/N: sorry if this chapter was all over the place x] I just wanted to post something soon because I've been so busy with school.**


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